Baobab
Baobab
Tree
The 'upside-down tree' of the African savanna, whose swollen trunk stores thousands of litres of water for the dry season.
💡 Fun Facts
- Its huge, fat trunk is a living water tank, storing thousands of litres for the dry season.
- It is nicknamed the 'upside-down tree' because its bare branches look like roots in the air.
- Its big flowers open at dusk and are pollinated by bats!
Name Story
Adansonia digitata
means “Adanson's finger-leaved tree”
What does its name mean?
- Adansonia — Adanson's treenamed after Michel Adanson, a French naturalist who studied it in Senegal
- digitata — fingered — split into finger-like partsLatin digitus, 'finger'Decode this word →
The baobab is named after the French naturalist Michel Adanson. Its second name, digitata, means 'fingered' — each leaf spreads out into leaflets like the fingers of a hand.